It's 2006. Apple is now using Intel hardware for some of its notebooks. Microsoft is using PowerPC chips for its gaming consoles. Google has found a way to be pro-privacy as well as pro-censorship all in the span of about a week. With so many changes in the last few months effecting the entire industry, I'm surprised to still scratching my head over the pitiful performance of consumer-grade networking hardware.

Although storage space is no longer the premium it once was, physical backups and external media have been slow to catch up. While recordable DVDs may be fine for backing up a single workstation, large servers are still forced to rely on swappable drives and tape backups. But holographic disc technology could be changing all of that in the very near future.

Microsoft recently announced that it would be selling a stripped-down version of XP called Eiger intended as a thin-client OS for businesses. It seems they are trying to squeeze the last drops of blood from the XP turnip before next years Longhorn with another variation, this time for consumers in Latin America.

The Windows XP Starter Edition is a gutted verion of XP that limits much of its predecessor's better features and is only available pre-installed on PCs. It does, however, provide a little more in the way of hand holding for new computer users. In spite of only being available bundled with hardware, it doesn't support high-end processors.

Not every software developer has had good luck with Microsoft's .NET framework. Even Microsoft itself is struggling with it in the wake of upcoming releases.

Once on the verge of releasing .NET Framework 2.0, Microsoft is acknowledging struggles with compatibility. It seems that applications based on version 1.1 are behaving less than seamlessly on the version 2.0 beta.

There are a few expected changes to occur, but the incompatibility goes beyond that. As stated in a .NET white paper, "During the beta 2 release, we have not yet achieved this goal and are seeking feedback on issues that can be addressed before the release of the .NET Framework."